


Strange Heart Beating

by QueenLoofah



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Dubious scientific and technological premises, F/M, Hair-pulling, Holodeck Sex, Jealousy, Love/Hate, Power Play, Romance, Stupid Sexy Lore, holograms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2018-12-09 15:18:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11671743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenLoofah/pseuds/QueenLoofah
Summary: Troi discovers that Lore has been hiding out in her private holodeck program.





	1. Staggering Girl

Deanna walked into the empty Ten Forward, eyes adjusting to the lighting. Though usually low-lit and intimate, the room was even dimmer than usual. She squinted, eyes searching the shadowy expanse until they fell upon Will Riker’s tall form, leaning lazily against a table in a corner of the room.  


“What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?”  


Troi rolled her eyes and giggled. “Only you could pull off such an awful line.”  


Impatient to be near him, Troi quickly strode across the room, stopping in front of him expectantly. Will pulled her gently into an embrace.  


“Deanna, Izmadi,” he murmured against her hair, and Troi closed her eyes, completely at ease for the first time in a week. She tilted her head to look up at him, taking in his handsome face. His beautiful blue eyes, his perfectly formed lips. She ruffled his hair playfully, just like she used to on Betazed when she wanted to embarrass him in front of his senior officers. He smiled down at her.  


Troi frowned. Apparently the hologram couldn’t quite approximate his exact smile—the wrinkles around his eyes, the playful quirk of his lips. This shouldn’t have annoyed her so much, but in light today’s stress, it only served to remind her of how truly unattainable this fantasy was. How unattainable William T. Riker was.  


Kind Will. Funny Will. Confident Will. Will who had made a career out of helping others, being a hero. Will who couldn’t ignore a woman in need. Or any woman, for that matter.  


Shisoru was the latest fling. The Enterprise had picked up her distress signal near the Deneb system, and was happy to host the captain and her crew until they reached the closest Federation space station. She and Will clicked instantly. Troi could only assume he was drawn to her power and position. He’d always liked accomplished women. Someone with similar ambitions.  


Troi wanted to be supportive of him, truly. After all, Will never said a word about her little dalliances during Enterprise’s ongoing mission--of course, she’d only had them to make him jealous. Apparently he felt no attachment whatsoever. Admitting that fact after a week of watching the two become increasingly more intimate was like a phaser blast to the stomach.  


She bitterly recalled the trite advice she’d given over the years to various heartbroken crewman who came to her for counselling. Things like “pursue other hobbies and recreations,” “meditate daily,” “spend time with friends,” or the incomprehensible “date yourself”.  


This wasn’t some Academy crush that could be forgotten with some chocolate ice cream and a good cry. She needed real relief.  


Troi’s instincts told her that this…method of coping was not healthy. Not to mention hypocritical after her outrage at Barclay’s holodeck fantasies about her. But another more base part of herself insisted that this was necessary. And so on a Friday night, just after enduring hours of Will gushing about the oh, so competent Captain Shisoru on the bridge, Troi feverishly drafted this romantic program to play during her recreational time. It was nothing too intense, really. All she wanted was for Will to cuddle up to her, kiss her, comfort her. She wanted what Will was surely doing for Shisoru.  


Troi shook her head, trying to dispel thoughts of _that._ The hologram Will looked at her with a concerned expression. “Something wrong, babe?”  


Struck with an idea, Troi pushed away from him, stepping backwards a few paces. “Yeah, there is. But maybe you can distract me for a bit. That is, if you can catch me first!”  


Abruptly, she broke off into a run toward Guinan’s empty bar. Catching on, Will chased after her sporting a mischievous grin that sent a thrill down Troi’s spine. _That’s more like it,_ she thought.  


He quickly caught her before she could sprint behind the bar, hauling her toward a nearby chair. Sitting down, he pulled her onto his lap. Troi continued to playfully resist, squirming and pushing against his chest. Will wrangled both her wrists together and immobilized them in one large fist. With his other hand, he pretended to twirl his moustache evilly, earning a laugh from Troi.  


“Since I have you here, how about a kiss?” he murmured, tipping her chin up to meet his lips. Troi smiled impishly and jerked her face away, continuing her game. His lips met her throat instead, and she felt him smirk against her.  


His hand slowly trailed up her back, finally smoothing against her long, dark hair. She sighed, relaxing into his touch, until she felt him grab a fistful and yank her head towards him again. He fixed her with an intense stare, more sentient and knowing than she’d ever seen on a hologram before. His grin, previously playful and mischievous, now took on an almost feral appearance.  


“I _said,_ ” His hand tightened cruelly around her hair. “How about a kiss?”  


Troi gasped. This was _nothing_ like what she had programmed. Why was the hologram acting like this?  


The holographic Will took advantage of Troi’s parted lips to kiss her deeply, running his tongue across her bottom lip, then biting it gently.  


“Computer, freeze program” Troi rasped against Will’s lips, barely able make a sound. Instantly, Will stopped mid-kiss, unable to move.  


Troi wrenched her hands from the hologram’s grip, clutching her rapidly-beating heart. She studied his face suspiciously while she took a moment to recover from what had just happened. His face, though frozen with the rest of the program, still seemed animated. His eyes blazed, and his muscles seemed taut with restrained power. He appeared to be buzzing with life, or something like it. Or maybe Troi was just imagining it to scare herself. Either way, it was unsettling. She had never seen Will make such an expression before.  


As for Troi—her thighs shifted in the immobilized Will’s lap—she had never reacted so…instantaneously to a man’s ministrations before. His fist was still in her hair, and she gently untangled it. Her scalp and the back of her neck prickled after she freed herself from his fingers.  


“Computer,” Troi hesitated for a moment. “Save program.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll get to Lore, don't you worry :)
> 
> If you'd like to read more, feel free to let me know in a review! This chapter is somewhat rushed because I wanted to quickly begin drafting the second chapter, which will be more thoughtfully written. Stay tuned!


	2. Caught Up

“…Deanna? _Deanna!_ ”  


Troi was jolted away from her wandering thoughts and back to her table at Ten Forward. Her eyes met the cool blue gaze of Beverly Crusher, who was waving her hand in front of Deanna’s face teasingly.  


“Anyone home? I was asking if you wanted to take our drinks to my quarters. Now that Wesley’s away at Academy, I find I’m getting more and more bored during off hours. We should take advantage of the lack of teenage boys and have a girls’ night in!”  


Deanna blinked and smiled sheepishly. “I’d love to, Bev, but there’s a holonovel that I absolutely need to finish. It’s been driving me crazy all day not knowing how it ends. Maybe next weekend?”  


Beverly’s bright smile waned slightly, and Troi suppressed a pang of guilt. “Oh, that’s fine. Next weekend, then.” Beverly fixed Deanna with a curious expression. “Though, you really have been spending a lot of time in the holodeck lately. Is this holonovel really that good?”  


Deanna nearly choked on her hot chocolate. “Ah, yes. Yes. Jane Eyre is…very thrilling. And mysterious. And romantic. It truly is everything one would want in a holonovel…” She trailed off, avoiding her friend’s look of confusion. Her rambling was clearly making Beverly more suspicious, so she gulped the last of her chocolate and excused herself as cheerily as she could.  


Beverly was right to be concerned, of course, Deanna admitted to herself as she made her way toward the nearest turbolift. Ever since the first incident with the holographic Will, she had spent increasingly more time in the holodeck. She justified it to herself as fascination over the anomalous nature of the program. Somehow, rather than following predetermined actions and phrases, the hologram often deviated wildly from what she had initially designed.  


For one thing, his “personality” didn’t resemble Will’s one bit. Whereas Will was affable and good-natured, his double was sly, with a dark sense of humor that bordered on cruel at times. Though they shared the same voice, the hologram’s was sharper, harsher, and had a sarcastic lilt that made everything he said seem as if it might be a joke.  


Or a lie.  


Deanna could not detect emotions from the hologram, obviously. And this intrinsic difference between the two was the crux of the program’s appeal.  


His mind was impenetrable. Or more accurately, his mind was a series of algorithms with no emotional context for her to decipher. It gave her a sense of helplessness in a way, like he had an edge on her that no human ever had before. And she liked that feeling. She liked that he was a mystery. She liked that he could say one thing then do another. She liked that he felt _dangerous_.  


Of course, Deanna never felt truly threatened by him. She was in total control of the program, and could halt it just like she did the first time.  
The hologram seemed to be aware of this, somehow, and hadn’t tried quite such a forceful advance on her since then. But Deanna always had the sense that he was steadily pushing boundaries to see how far he could go.  


How close could he stand to her before she stepped to maintain a distance.  


How filthy and harsh could his speech become before she nervously redirected the conversation.  


How much could he touch—hands, cheek, side of her neck, small of her back—before she drew away.  


How tightly could he hold her to him before she began to squirm in discomfort.  


He had never pressed for sex, though he mocked her prudishness whenever she rebuffed his more amorous advances. As much as he was snide and cruel, he could also be very seductive. Deanna felt as if her defenses were being gently and deftly pried from her as she fell deeper under his influence.  


Yes, she was fascinated by this miraculous fluke of engineering. So fascinated, in fact, that her counselling sessions were beginning to suffer for it. With the thought of the program waiting for her, it was difficult to focus on the seemingly petty anxieties of some of the crewmembers who came to her. And in contrast to the blissful stillness of the holodeck, the riotous emotions of those around her became increasingly unpleasant. Rather than civic duty, sometimes her job felt more like a chore.  


_It’s not a crime to be distracted from work once in a while_ , Deanna kept insisting to herself. All the while a small part of her wondered whether she was being altered for the worse with each self-indulgent visit.  


Deep in this train of thought as she reached the turbolift, she almost let out a yelp of surprise when the doors slid open to reveal Will and Shisoru. Shisoru’s large grey eyes widened at Deanna’s shocked expression, but Will beamed at her and beckoned her into the lift.  


“Going our way, Deanna?”  


She mumbled an affirmative.  


“You have to hear this—Captain Shisoru was just telling me how her ship briefly made contact with the Rju-uln a few months back. Can you believe that? I thought they never revealed themselves to people outside their race if they could help it.”  


“They were interested in a foreign organism that was following our warp trail. I suppose they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to study it. A very science-oriented people, it seems.” Shisoru smiled up at Will. “As for myself, I’m afraid I could never be bothered with science. My grades during Academy can attest to that.” The couple shared a laugh, and Deanna suppressed the desire to vomit. Their infatuation with each other pulsated nauseatingly in her brain.  


“How interesting,” was all she could manage as the lift reached her deck. She kicked herself for being so unfriendly, but she wanted to extract herself from this conversation and leave.  


Picking up on Deanna’s discomfort, Shisoru added “It seems that you are in a hurry, Counselor. Perhaps we will see you later.”  


“Hurry? What could you be doing? You’re off duty tonight.” Riker pressed.  


“Holonovel.” Deanna said too quickly, unable to look him in the eye. She nodded politely at Shisoru and awkwardly excused herself for the second time that night.  


“Well, we’ll be in the botanical garden in case you want to join us.” Will offered amiably as the doors of the turbolift closed.  


“I’d rather bathe in a tub of Ferengi tube grubs.” Deanna muttered to herself, trudging toward Holodeck 7.  


* * *

“Computer, play program ‘Troi-014.’”  


Ten Forward glimmered into focus all around Deanna, and if transported directly from the turbolift, Will’s handsome figure materialized into his usual position, leaning against the usual table.  


“I knew you’d be back,” the hologram smirked, his eyes hooded. “Just can’t resist me, huh?”  


Will’s eyes—but not.  


Her gaze flicked away from his and settled on his lips. “Don’t flatter yourself. I thought you’d be desperate for company tonight and decided to take pity on you.”  


The hologram laughed softly at that, his lips twisting into a lopsided smile—another odd deviation from the original Will that Deanna found unexpectedly alluring. He seemed to perceive her staring and his smile widened.  


“Boy, do you look tightly wound. Rough night?” He began stalking closer to her.  


“That’s not very complimentary, Will.” She turned and walked a little ways to a nearby table, knowing he was tailing her. He caught her arm and gently spun her to face him.  


”I can think of a few ways to help you relax, Deanna.”  


She had no doubts about his meaning. Most visits, Deanna would scoff and change the subject. It was a game of push and pull they played, building tension until they reached the knife’s edge of seduction, and she would abruptly end the program. Deanna had been adamant to herself about not having real sexual intimacy with a hologram. It seemed too much like an admission of defeat. She was content to have her little imaginary flirtations and then take care of herself in the privacy of her own quarters.  


But in this moment, Deanna realized that she was past the point of caring, too exhausted to feel shame.  


Instead, she pressed her body against his, laced her fingers behind his neck and pulled him down to kiss her. His lips slanted against hers, and when she left his tongue brush against hers, she moaned into his mouth.  


The hologram broke the kiss, licking his lips and peering down at her haughtily.  


“Not such a priss tonight, are you? Why the change of heart?”  


“It’s this ship.” she paused, “The air is so thin in these Federation ships. I can’t breathe.”  


The holographic Will didn’t seem to be listening. He pressed a kiss against her throat and nipped at it. She flinched against him, but his grip was unyielding. Inhuman.  


“I think,” he breathed against her ear, “we should make up for lost time. How quickly do you think I can get your cunt dripping wet?”  


Deanna sucked in a breath.  


For a moment, she gazed wildly into his eyes, searching for some point of similarity to Will. Searching for his humor, his tenderness, his gentleness. She found none, and her relief confused her.  


Her mind couldn’t linger on that thought, however, because she was being pulled to the ground.  


“Computer, create a bed, 76 by 80 inches in measurement,” Deanna commanded. She wouldn’t suffer the humiliation of being taken on the hard floor of holo-Ten Forward.  


“ _That’s more like it_.” The hologram growled, pushing her against the sheets and climbing on top of her.  


As he began peeling off her uniform, Deanna wondered briefly if Federation holograms were equipped for sex acts, as were the ones made for holosuites. This one certainly acted like it. His voice returned her attention to him.  


“Now Deanna, Imzadi, I want you to watch what I’m doing to you, because I’m going to absolutely ruin you for any other man.”  


His mouth was hovering just above her cunt, still covered by her panties. She felt his breath fan over her, and she couldn’t help but buck upward toward his lips. He seemed to like that quite a bit. Deanna caught the smugly triumphant glint in his eye as he lowered his mouth to press lightly against her mons. She bucked again, but his hands pushed her thighs down in place. He continued to kiss against her panties at a maddeningly leisurely pace, enough to drive her crazy but too gentle to give relief.  


Deanna was at the point of cursing at him when she felt the tip of his tongue slick over her clit, and instead she let out a moan. She could feel him laughing at her.  


“Do it more—not through panties.” She hissed, not sure if she was speaking coherently or not.  


“Manners, Imzadi.”  


“ _Please_ ,” Deanna bit out, not caring about pride.  


She heard a _rip_ , and saw the tatters that were her panties tossed to the ground unceremoniously. Meanwhile, the hologram was now buried between her legs, lapping hungrily at her quim.  


Through the haze of her arousal, Deanna noted that perhaps Federation holograms really weren’t programmed for this kind of thing. The hologram didn’t lack skill by any means, but as he pleasured her with increasing intensity, his image seemed to be fraying at the edges—though he didn’t seem to notice, so intent on his work. Deanna thought to herself rather selfishly that she hoped he could bring her to orgasm before completely shorting out. She was so far gone, she could barely think. When the hologram sucked on her clit, she threw her head back and squeezed her eyes shut.  


“Look at me when I’m fucking you, Troi.”  


Deanna’s eyes flew wide open in an instant—the sharp, sardonic voice she just heard did not belong to Will. She jerked her head up to see Data laving his tongue against her cunt, and for a brief moment wondered if she had gone insane.  


Data had begun sucking on her clit again, and it took all her strength to focus on the program malfunction and not its mouth.  


“Computer…” she began, then broke off when the realization hit her.  


Not Data. Lore.  


* * *

Deanna gaped at the android—hologram?—who was still eating her out, apparently unaware of this new development. By this point the shock of his appearance had superseded the strength of her arousal, and her first instinct was to try to scramble away. His iron grip held her in place, tightening in response to her sudden noncompliance.  


“Lore!” Deanna half-yelled, half-moaned.  


Lore’s head jerked up, lips parted in confusion and glistening with her wetness. She saw his eyes shift from her face down to his pale, synthetic hand, still clutching her thigh. It slackened for one moment, and Deanna took this chance to kick at his head. The blow barely registered, and Lore didn’t budge an inch from his position between her legs. It seemed as if he was rapidly calculating a plan of action, trying to size up the situation. Within a split second he had made a decision, and fixed his expression into one of smug satisfaction.  


“Don’t act so upset, Troi—you were moaning my name just moments ago.” Lore sneered, licking her juices from his lips with exaggerated relish. He released her legs in one smooth motion and she crawled backwards away from him as far as the bed allowed.  


“What the _hell_ are you doing here? How are you here—as a _hologram_?”  


“I think a more interesting question is why you’ve been using the image of a Starfleet officer for your personal fantasies. I can’t imagine that’s very much in line with Federation ethics. Tsk, Tsk, what would ‘Will’ have to say?”  


“You’d better quit cracking jokes and tell me what the hell is happening or I’ll start experimenting with your program.”  


The corner of Lore’s mouth twitched. She had the upper hand, and he clearly resented her awareness of that fact. In the same second, his expression had smoothed once more into an arrogant smirk.  


“I’ll spare you the boredom of recounting the entire doomed adventure. In short, a small miscalculation in an otherwise brilliant plan to hack your ship’s computer rendered my neural network linked to this holodeck. My body was in effect reconstituted as part of the holomatter within the system, though my own biological makeup is as incompatible with the process as yours would be. If I don’t actively maintain another image, the matter regresses back to my own physical appearance.”  


He paused, grinning. “I suppose I was too… _distracted_ by you to maintain Riker’s appearance. You’ll have to forgive me.”  


“So you’re trapped here.”  


“Let’s not say ‘trapped’. How about ‘gathering intel on the dirty fantasies of a wanton Federation counselor’?”  


“Computer, dele—”  


“ _Hold it_.”  


Deanna huffed, finally overcoming her shock and feeling irritation in its place. Not just irritation at Lore, but at herself for debasing herself in front of him. Irritation in the realization that the attraction she had for the rakish holo-Will was quite plainly an attraction for Lore’s own twisted personality, which he had been freely displaying during all those visits to the holodeck. Deanna eyes unthinkingly flicked to Lore’s lips: inhumanly pale, and less full than Will’s. She thought of the feel of his lips against her, and her cunt throbbed in remembrance of unfulfilled arousal.  


She caught his questioning gaze, and in that moment made an uncharacteristically impulsive decision.  


“Computer, save program.”  


Lore cocked his head in a manner reminiscent of his brother. “Wait—you’re not reporting this to your captain? What kind of Starfleet officer are you?”  


“If I reported this, they’d surely investigate the program as a potential threat. Can’t have Will and the entire crew knowing about my—how did you put it—‘dirty fantasies’. Besides, you make a fun diversion. I think I’ll keep you around.”  


She smirked at his stunned expression.  


“Computer, end program.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It absolutely killed me to keep writing sexy scenes with Riker’s image, but it’s what worked for the story. He’s handsome and a total sweetheart, but I’ve never been very attracted to him. Feel free to swap his image for Lore’s in your head while you read this chapter—that’s what I was doing the whole time writing haha
> 
> I'm sorry if anyone's been waiting on this, I've just been unsatisfied for months with every approach to continuing this story, and this is the only result that seemed passable. Thank you to the people who left reviews--they kept me coming back to this fic to continue writing (when I probably should have given up haha)


	3. Shudder

“Oh, hell…higher. Up, up.” 

Troi bucked her hips, trying to force his fingers deeper into her dripping cunt. Lore grinned, slowing his pace. She was just at the point of coming; he could feel it in the straining muscles of her inner thighs, and the way her quim was tightening around him. He had been working on her for quite some time now—at first humoring that feminine appreciation for slow foreplay, then extending the torture just for the fun of it, seeing as her bound arms prevented her from finishing the job herself. He pressed a kiss into her quivering thigh where it met her pelvis, and crawled up from between her legs to lean over her, still pumping his fingers shallowly. 

She seemed the very embodiment of organic life itself: chest heaving and cheeks flushed, dark hair fanned out over the pillows. He had kissed and licked her lipstick into a smeared state of disarray, giving her a somewhat cheap, degraded appearance. He lifted his gaze from her lips to meet her eyes, and noticed with delight that she was glaring up at him. 

“I know you can go deeper than that.” 

Brat. 

“That’s a good look on you, Troi.” Lore remarked, ignoring her. “All mussed up like that. No so prissy.” 

He withdrew his fingers from her cunt and made a show of licking each one slowly. She grunted, baring her teeth at him like an animal. 

She was so beautiful, he could strangle her for it. He would’ve by now if it weren’t for the safety controls barring him from doing her any significant harm. For now, he settled for the pleasure of watching trembling human flesh yield to machine, over and over. Willingly. 

After all, she was the one who kept coming back for it. For him. 

He tugged on her hair experimentally, testing to see what level of force the parameters allowed him to inflict. Not very much past what he used on their first encounter, but her gasp of pain was gratifying in itself. 

His gaze slanted downward to meet hers. She glowered at him, but her eyes were bright. 

“What a freak—you like this?” He tugged again, willing himself to pull harder but unable to. 

“Hnnn,” she keened through gritted teeth, once more jerking her pelvis upward, desperate to be touched. 

He took her incoherent reply as an affirmative. 

He reached down again to slide his fingers idly against her cunt, trailing lightly over her lips, her clit, amusing himself with the thin trails of her wetness that clung to his fingers when he drew them away. On a whim, he decided to drag his middle finger, slick with her arousal, across her lower lip, jerking his hand away when she tried to bite him. He didn’t know why he was drawing it out this long. He was aware that the longer he teased her, the higher likelihood that she would force him to give her release by commanding his program. The idea of being controlled was…abhorrent to him. She had only ever ordered his program to freeze before, never to carry out an action, yet he couldn’t stomach even that. To be reduced to a puppet on a string, to have control pried from him was a sensation so repulsive, he rejected it with his very being. 

But beyond that aversion, beyond his sense of self-preservation, he could not fight the compulsion to push her as far into madness as he could manage. He felt, with strange certainty, that he was seeing a side of her that she had never shown anyone before. 

Not even her precious Riker. 

And as he looked into her bright, fierce eyes, it seemed as if she were assuring him that she could meet his every challenge by her own power, without relying the computer. That she was egging him on. 

Oh, yes, he would very much like to strangle her. 

He felt her squirm under him, trying to rub her cunt against his leg but unable to reach it. Ignoring his better judgement, he decided to test her resolve. 

“Deanna, dear,” he smirked “I have a proposition for you.” 

* * *

_Damn him. Damn that android._

Deanna tried futilely to pat her hair into place, jogging to the turbolift that would take her to the bridge. She was late to a shift for the first time since she could remember.

Even if the captain overlooked this, there was no way Will was going to let her off the hook without a good ribbing.

It was all Lore’s fault. That damn android.  


“ _I’ll let you come--if you’ll allow me to modify the program I’m confined in. Your choice of setting is painfully boring, and I’m sure I can come up with something far more…exciting._ ”

She shouldn’t have agreed. That was obvious. But she was edged to the point of delirium, and she could feel his breath against her face, and when she let out her shaky assent he had used that wicked mouth on her once again, wrenching an orgasm out of her within seconds.

She couldn’t use the computer to control his actions. It would be wrong. He must have realized that and used her ethics against her.

 _Ethics._ Keeping another sentient being trapped in a holodeck was hardly ethical. What was happening to her?

The turbolift doors slid open upon reaching the bridge.

Somehow, the captain’s stern remarks about her tardiness stung less than the sight of Data’s slim form, manning the helm with mechanical efficiency.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dudes, it's been too long since I've posted last. I do want to continue this story, but I'm in a bit of a rut as to how I'm going to move forward with it. If I could just continue writing smut pieces it'd be one thing, but I've shot myself in the foot trying to give this some semblance of a plot. I'm too invested to just write porn! But I suck at writing anything besides porn and fluff! If you have tips or feedback or something you'd like to see going forward, let me know. I'm chompin' at the bit to continue, but I'll need to think this one through.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's been so kind in writing comments. They fuel my sputtering, shorted-out android heart.


End file.
